Sports ball throwing training apparatus

ABSTRACT

A sports ball throwing training apparatus includes an article of clothing worn by a user, and an elongated sleeve detachably coupled to an abdominal region of the article of clothing. The sleeve forms a hollowed interior for receiving and encompassing a portion of the user&#39;s arm. The arm sleeve is configured to permit the user&#39;s arm, along with a sports ball held by the user, to translate axially through the hollowed interior as the user withdraws their arm from the arm sleeve and winds-up to throw the ball forward. The position of the arm sleeve relative to the article of clothing indicates whether or not the user is throwing the sports ball with proper form.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present disclosure claims the benefit of priority with U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/925,056, entitled “SPORTS BALL THROWINGTRAINING APPARATUS AND METHOD,” filed Oct. 23, 2019, which is herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to a sports ball training apparatusand method and, more particularly, a sports ball training system andmethod incorporated into an article of clothing or tethered to the body.

BACKGROUND

When a baseball or softball player throws a ball at full force, there isa tremendous amount of pressure on both the elbow and shoulder joints.For example, a 85 mile per hour pitch typically generates over 350pounds per square inch (p.s.i.) of pressure on the shoulder area.Athletes are rarely taught the proper mechanics of how to throw a sportsball. Many amateur and professional pitchers throw a ball in a mannerthat creates unnecessary strain on the shoulder and elbow joints byleading with the elbow and snapping the arm through the throwing motion.However, throwing a ball with proper mechanics not only increases ballspeed and the thrower's accuracy, but it preserves arm strength andhealth and reduces the chance of injury.

Sports trainer Dave Coggin has developed a specific throwing style andinstruction regimen currently called, the “pocket, whip and stick,”which describes the most fluid and stress-free overhand throwing motionresulting in the highest velocity and highest spin rate in baseball andsoftball throws. Coggin's “pocket, whip and stick” regime is furtherdiscussed in an article entitled, “Arm Action: What Is It, and How toImprove It,” by Lennon Richards, the contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

According to Coggin's regime, “pocket” describes how players control armpath sequencing by eliminating wasted movement when, for example, abaseball pitcher winds-up (i.e., when the ball is removed or separatedfrom the pitcher's glove) and translates the ball along an arm pathbefore ball release and launching the ball forward (also known as “armspiral”). It's called the “pocket,” because baseball pitchers oftenremove the ball from their gloves and begin their throwing motion neartheir front pocket. Coincidentally, Coggin once took a ball quickly outof a pocket of his jersey to throw the ball to someone and noticed thatthe ball followed his elbow path and quickly fell into arm layback andball release, resembling the natural arm spiral path that high-levelprofessional baseball players take.

“Whip” describes the whip-like motion of the thrower's arm forward afterthe elbow reached a position at or slightly above the armpit plane. Withproper arm path sequencing, the arm may spring freely and easily out ofa scapula load position (also referred to as “horizontal abduction”)into external rotation, also referred to as “forearm layback.” Forearmlayback occurs in the late arm-cocking phase of the throwing motion,where, for example, a pitcher is in full stride and the pitcher'sforearm is rotated clockwise relative to the upper arm (i.e., humerus)such that the pitcher's forearm is substantially parallel to the groundwith the ball facing upwards towards the sky. When a pitcher is inforearm layback, rotation of the thrower's hip provides the torquenecessary to rotate the thrower's forearm forward. After reachingmaximum layback, the arm now whips forward to release and throw the ballforward.

“Stick” is a phrase coined to describe the landing of the thrower'sfront leg onto the mound or ground in a firm, braced position. If thepocket (referring to initial-hand separation and arm path with the ballfollowing the elbow path) is good, the thrower will be able to keeptheir weight back and have better, easily repeatable timing between theplanting of the front foot and the location of the ball hand along thearm path. Proper timing allows for maximum energy to transfer from theupper body and arm to propel the ball forward. However, if the timing isbad, one can compare visually to a pole vaulter who produces asubstantial amount of speed and power during their approach towards thepole vault standard, but places the pole in the planting box poorly. Ithas been noted that pitchers most naturally land in a strong “stick”position when they are well-timed, with the “pocket” phase of arm pathbeing performed correctly.

After an athlete has created sufficient muscle memory in performing the“pocket, whip and stick” throwing style, trainers have noticed thatathletes tend to achieve a “stress-free” ball release. Athletes who havecompleted Coggin's training program have consistently found that theirball spin rate and ball velocity increased substantially, and their armhealth improved.

Coggin has modeled his sports ball throwing drills to reinforce a“pocket path arm action” throwing style, namely a throwing pattern thatallows the ball to follow the thrower's elbow into scapula spring andlayback. “External rotation” (also often referred to as forearmlayback), is the position that puts the most stress on the elbow (valgusforce), but is also one of the most important positions to high ballvelocity. Like a rubber band, the forearm will layback—almost flat withthe ball facing the sky. This creates external rotation that propels theball forward after release. Athletes with less external rotation thanothers will exhibit a more pushy arm action. This phase starts when theathlete separates their hands. Although a relatively simplephase—athletes can seriously injure themselves if they repeatedlyseparate their hands improperly.

Coggin believes that a thrower's body aligns and kinetic energy is mostefficiently transferred from the body to the ball when an athlete throwsthe ball in “the pocket.” When the thrower's timing or position is poorin “the pocket,” it takes an athlete longer and requires more energy(i.e., adds more stress to the user's shoulder) to bring the ball to itsball release point, as most of their body mass has now traveled furtherahead of the arm. This misalignment leads to trainers advising thethrower to adjust their body posture, but such corrections are uselesscorrections if their pocket isn't adjusted. With the “pocket, whip andstick” throwing style, arm health, velocity, and control all improve—inthat order.

A need presently exists for an apparatus that trains athletes how tothrow sports balls with proper mechanics, as taught by Dave Coggin. Thiswill enable athletes to throw sports balls with increased ball speed andaccuracy, and preserve the athlete's strength and health and reduce thechance of injury. These advantages are currently unknown in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A sports ball throwing training apparatus is provided. The apparatusincludes an article of clothing worn by a user, and an elongated sleevedetachably coupled to an abdominal region of the article of clothing.The sleeve forms a hollowed interior for receiving and encompassing aportion of the user's arm. The arm sleeve is configured to permit theuser's arm, along with a sports ball held by the user, to translateaxially through the hollowed interior as the user withdraws their armfrom the arm sleeve and winds-up to throw the ball forward. The positionof the arm sleeve relative to the article of clothing indicates whetheror not the user is throwing the sports ball with proper form. If the armsleeve remains attached to the article of clothing during the user'sthrowing motion, as the user withdraws its arm from the arm sleeve, thatindicates that the user is throwing the ball with proper form. If thearm sleeve detaches or rips away from the article of clothing during theuser's throwing motion, that indicates that the user is throwing theball with improper form.

In a second example, the sports ball throwing training apparatusincludes a waistband adapted to be worn around the waist of a user, andan elongated sleeve detachably coupled to the waistband. The arm sleeveforms a hollowed interior for receiving and encompassing a portion ofthe user's arm. The arm sleeve is configured to permit the user's armalong with a sports ball held by the user to translate axially throughthe hollowed interior as the user withdraws their arm from the armsleeve and winds-up to throw the ball forward. The position of the armsleeve relative to the waistband clothing indicates whether or not theuser is throwing the sports ball with proper form.

Other devices, apparatus, systems, methods, features and advantages ofthe disclosure will be or will become apparent to one with skill in theart upon examination of the following figures and detailed description.It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features andadvantages be included within this description, and be protected by theaccompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The present invention may be better understood by referring to thefollowing figures. The components in the figures are not necessarily toscale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles ofthe disclosure. In the figures, like reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the different views.

FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating one example of a sports ballthrowing training apparatus according to the teachings of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the arm sleeve of the training apparatus ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view of the arm sleeve of the trainingapparatus of FIG. 1, taken along line 3-3.

FIG. 4A is a front view illustrating a user retracting their throwingarm through the arm sleeve of the training apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4B is a front view illustrating a user successfully withdrawingtheir throwing arm from the arm sleeve of the training apparatus of FIG.1, thus indicating that the user is throwing the ball along a proper armpath.

FIG. 4C is a front view illustrating a user ripping the arm sleeve ofthe training apparatus of FIG. 1 away from the article of clothing, thusindicating that the user is not throwing the ball along a proper armpath.

FIG. 5 is a front view illustrating a second example of a sports ballthrowing training apparatus according to the teachings of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the waistband of the training apparatus ofFIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is a front view illustrating how a user uses the trainingapparatus of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a front view illustrating how a user positions and adjusts thearm sleeve of the training apparatus of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a front view illustrating how a user withdraws their throwingarm from the arm sleeve of the training apparatus of FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 is a front view illustrating how a user may position the armsleeve of the training apparatus of FIG. 6, above the waist.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-10 illustrate examples of various implementations of a sportsball throwing training apparatus. Generally, the apparatus includes anarm sleeve detachably coupled to an article of clothing. The sleeveforms a hollowed interior wherein the forearm of the user may passthrough to train the user how to throw a sports ball along a proper armpath, thus minimizing strain on the user's elbow and shoulder whileproviding maximum velocity and throwing accuracy.

As used herein, “wind-up” refers to a throwing motion where a persontranslates their arm backward before translating their air forward topropel or throw the ball forward. The “arm path” refers to the path thata person's arm takes from the start of one's throwing motion until ballrelease.

FIG. 1 is a front view of one example of a sports ball throwing trainingapparatus 100 of the present disclosure. The apparatus 100 generallyincludes an arm sleeve 102 detachably coupled to an article of clothing110. As better shown in FIG. 2, the arm sleeve 102 comprises acylindrical tube 202 of fabric having a first open end 204, a secondopen end 206, and an annular wall 208 defining a longitudinal axis 209.In some implementations, the cylindrical tube 202 may have dimensions ofseven inches to ten inches in length and an inner diameter ofapproximately four inches. The cylindrical tube 202 may be made offabric such as neoprene, rubber, cloth, or any other suitable material.

In some implementations, the cylindrical tube 202 may be formed frommolded rubber. In other implementations, the cylindrical tube 202 may bemade from a piece of rolled material having ends that are sewn, glued,fused, or other otherwise bonded together to form the cylindrical tubingshape.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the arm sleeve 102. As shown, theannual wall 208 includes an outer wall 302 and an inner wall 304defining a hollowed interior 306. The hollowed interior 306 forms achannel for receiving and encompassing a user's forearm, as shown inFIG. 1.

Returning to FIG. 2, the arm sleeve 102 further includes an elongatedstrip of hook and loop fastening material 210 that is sewn, glued, orotherwise affixed to a portion of the outer wall 302 (FIG. 3) of thecylindrical tube 202. The hook and loop fastening material 210 maycomprise either a loop or hook component. In the present example, thehook and loop fastening material 210 may comprise a hook materialcommonly known as Velcro®. Velcro® is a trademark owned by VelcroIndustries B.V., a Netherlands Limited Liability Company. Velcro® iscommonly used as a material fastener in association with securingobjects to or in association with clothing, furnishings, and equipment.

The strip of hook and loop material 210 is affixed to the outer wall 302such that it axially extends substantially along the length of thecylindrical tube 202, between the first open end 204 and the second openend 206. The hook and loop material 210 detachably couples the armsleeve 102 to the article of clothing 110.

Referring now back to FIG. 1, the article of clothing 110 may be anygarment made of cloth including a t-shirt, sweatshirt, or hoodie. Insome implementations, the article of clothing 110 may consist of anathletic jersey 112 having an overlay 114 of hook and loop fasteningmaterial, for example, a loop or pile Velcro® fabric, sewn or stitchedto the front of the jersey 112. The jersey 112 may be made of cotton,fleece, polyether, spandex, or any other suitable material.

The apparatus 100 of the present disclosure is configured to trainusers, in particular baseball pitchers, how to throw a sports ball withproper mechanics. In use, a user may begin their throwing motion byplacing their forearm through the arm sleeve 102, as shown in FIG. 1. Asthe user winds-up to throw the ball forward, the ball held in the user'sthrowing hand is axially translated through the hollowed interior 306 ofthe arm sleeve 102, from the first open end 204 towards the second openend 206, as shown on FIG. 4A. Proper throwing mechanics requires thethrowing hand to come into the thrower's body during the throwingrotation. As such, when a user throws the ball with proper mechanics,following a proper arm path (i.e., as the user pulls or retracts theirarm through the arm sleeve 102 close to the user's body), the ball andthe user's throwing arm is permitted to pass through the sleeve interior306 with minimal resistance and the user is able to withdraw its armfrom the arm sleeve 102 such that the arm sleeve 102 remains attached tothe article of clothing 110, as shown in FIG. 4B. Once the ball isremoved from the arm sleeve 102, according to the teaching of thepresent disclosure, the ball will be in a suitable throwing position forthe user to throw the ball more accurately and efficiently. According tothe teachings of the present disclosure, the trajectory of a sports ballduring the throwing motion follows the path of the thrower's elbow whenthe thrower throws the ball with proper mechanics.

On the other hand, if the user throws the ball improperly, for example,if the user does not bring their hand straight down, or if the userflips their forearm open, the arm sleeve 102 will detach from thearticle of clothing 110 (i.e., rip or pull away from the jersey), asshown in FIG. 4C. In this way, the arm sleeve 102 provides a learningcue to the user and/or the user's trainer or coach that the user'sthrow/arm path is wrong. A key learning cue for users of apparatus 100,and particularly baseball pitchers, is that if the baseball does notfollow the thrower's elbow smoothly out of the arm sleeve 102 during thethrowing motion so the user's elbow ends up at or near shoulder heightand, instead, either stabs down with the ball or flips the user'sforearm and hand up and back, the arm sleeve 102 will detach from thearticle of clothing 110, prompting the user to try again.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a second example of a sports ball throwingtraining apparatus 500 of the present disclosure. In this example, thearm sleeve 102 is detachably coupled to an article of clothing, namely,a waistband 502 that may be worn about the user's body, over the user'sjersey. As shown in FIG. 6, the waistband 502 may comprise an elongatedbody 602 having opposing ends 604 and a central body portion 606extending therebetween. The waistband 502 may be made of canvas, Kevlar,neoprene, nylon, or any other suitable material. The central bodyportion 606 may be made of hook and loop material, for example, a loopor pile Velcro® fabric, or, in the alternative, may include an overlayof hook and loop material may be sewn or stitched to the central bodyportion 606.

The waistband 502 may be secured about the user's body by a hook andloop fastener, belt-buckle, snap buckle, or any other suitable fastenerconfigured to couple the opposing ends 604 together. The waistband 502should be firmly secured about the user's waist to resist any shear orpulling force generated by the strip of hoop and loop material 210 (FIG.2), as the arm sleeve 102 is pulled away from the waistband 502.

Referring back to FIG. 5, the central body portion 606 of the waistband502 is configured to extend across the abdomen of the user. In this way,the arm sleeve 102 may stick to and be detachably coupled to the centralbody portion 606 of the waistband 502 the same way the arm sleeve 102 iscoupled to article of clothing 110. Once coupled to the waistband 502,the arm sleeve 102 trains the user how to throw a ball with propermechanics the same way it trains the user as described with apparatus100.

In any implementation, the adjustment and positioning of the arm sleeverelative to the article of clothing is a matter of choice. For example,as shown the FIG. 7, adjustment and positioning of the arm sleeve 102relative to the article of clothing starts with the user placing the armsleeve 102 over the user's forearm. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the usermay attach the arm sleeve 102 to, for example only, the waistband 502 ofthe apparatus at a desired angle, based on the desired training. Forinstance, a baseball pitcher typically starts their throwing motion byholding the baseball low, near their beltline at an angle between 30°and 60°, but more preferably 45° relative to the beltline of the userbefore the user winds-ups up the ball to throw it forward. On the otherhand, an infielder typically holds a baseball higher, near their chest,and starts their throwing motion near the upper torso, with theirforearm at a position more parallel to the ground than a pitcher beforewind-up and forward motion.

One way to utilize the present disclosure for training sports ballthrowers, particularly baseball infielders, is to slide the user'sthrowing hand through the hollowed interior 306 to pre-assemble the armsleeve 102 about the user's forearm. Once the arm sleeve 102 isassembled about the user's forearm, a trainer may toss or roll abaseball towards the user and, as the user fields the ball by scoopingor funneling the ball up from the ground, the user would pull the armsleeve 102 towards the user's body, as infielders are taught to bringthe baseball into their chest before throwing the baseball. As the userbrings the baseball towards their body, the arm sleeve 102 is configuredto stick or attach itself to the hook and loop material on the user'sjersey or waistband. As such, the arm sleeve 102 will then be positionedand adjusted according to the user's natural throwing motion.

Once the arm sleeve 102 is attached to the article of clothing, the armsleeve 102 operates as described above for apparatus 100 and as shown inFIG. 9. Therefore, if the user withdraws their arm out of the arm sleeve102 follows the correct throwing path during windup, the arm sleeve 102will remain attached to the user's jersey or waistband as the userwithdraws their arm out of the arm sleeve 102 prior to throwing the ballforward. But if the user is either bringing their hand straight down orflipping their forearm open, the sleeve arm 102 will detach or otherwiserip away from the jersey or waistband, providing a learning cueindicating to the user and/or trainer that the user's throw/arm path isincorrect.

In certain instances, a user, for example, a baseball pitcher in a “set”or “stretch” pitching position, may wish to start their throwing motionabove the belt, at mid-chest level. As shown in FIG. 10, the arm sleeve102 may be coupled to the article of clothing 110 above the abdomen. Inthis way, the user's forearm would be positioned substantially parallelto the beltline and the ground as the user starts their throwing motion.

According to the teachings of the present disclosure, if a user throws asports ball following a path defined by the longitudinal axis 209 (FIG.2), once the user withdraws or pulls their forearm out of the arm sleeve102 (with the ball following the same path as the user's elbow), theball will be held by the user in a suitable position for the user topropel the ball forward in a throwing motion that causes minimal strainon the user's elbow and shoulder and provides maximum velocity andaccuracy of the throws. While the present invention is described inrelation to throwing baseballs, the present disclosure may apply totrain users to throw other sports balls, such as footballs and the like.

In general, terms such as “coupled to,” and “configured for couplingto,” and “secured to,” and “configured for securing to” and “incommunication with” (for example, a first component is “coupled to” or“is configured for coupling to” or is “configured for securing to” or is“in communication with” a second component) are used herein to indicatea structural, functional, mechanical, electrical, signal, optical,magnetic, electromagnetic, ionic or fluidic relationship between two ormore components or elements. As such, the fact that one component issaid to be in communication with a second component is not intended toexclude the possibility that additional components may be presentbetween, and/or operatively associated or engaged with, the first andsecond components.

Although the previous description illustrates particular examples ofvarious implementations, the present disclosure is not limited to theforegoing illustrative examples. A person skilled in the art is awarethat the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and theirequivalents can be applied in various further implementations andmodifications. In particular, a combination of the various features ofthe described implementations is possible, as far as these features arenot in contradiction with each other. Accordingly, the foregoingdescription of implementations has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description. Modifications and variations are possiblein light of the above description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sports ball throwing training apparatus,comprising: an article of clothing worn by a user; and an elongatedsleeve detachably coupled to an abdominal region of the article ofclothing, the sleeve forming a hollowed interior for receiving andencompassing a portion of the user's arm; wherein the arm sleeve isconfigured to permit the user's arm and a sports ball held by the userto translate axially through the hollowed interior as the user withdrawsits arm from the arm sleeve and winds-up to throw the ball forward; andwherein the position of the arm sleeve relative to the article ofclothing indicates whether or not the user is throwing the sports ballwith proper form.
 2. The sports ball throwing training apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the arm sleeve is made of neoprene.
 3. The sports ballthrowing training apparatus of claim 1, wherein the arm sleeve comprisesa strip of hook and loop material for attaching to the article ofclothing.
 4. The sports ball throwing training apparatus of claim 3,wherein the article of clothing comprises a T-shirt overlaid with hookand loop material for attachment with the strip of hook and loopmaterial on the arm sleeve.
 5. The sports ball throwing trainingapparatus of claim 1, wherein the arm sleeve is configured to remaincoupled to the article of clothing as the user withdraws its arm fromthe arm sleeve if the user is throwing the sports ball along a properarm path.
 6. The sports ball throwing training apparatus of claim 1,wherein the arm sleeve is configured to detach from the article ofclothing as the user withdraws its arm from the arm sleeve if the useris throwing the sports ball along an improper arm path.
 7. A sports ballthrowing training apparatus, comprising: a waistband adapted to be wornaround the waist of a user; and an elongated sleeve detachably coupledto the waistband, the sleeve forming a hollowed interior for receivingand encompassing a portion of the user's arm; wherein the arm sleeve isconfigured to permit the user's arm along with a sports ball held by theuser to translate axially through the hollowed interior as the userwithdraws their arm from the arm sleeve and winds-up to throw the ballforward; and wherein the position of the arm sleeve relative to thewaistband indicates whether or not the user is throwing the sports ballwith proper form.
 8. The sports ball throwing training apparatus ofclaim 7, wherein the arm sleeve is made of neoprene.
 9. The sports ballthrowing training apparatus of claim 7, wherein the arm sleeve comprisesa strip of hook and loop material for attaching to a portion of thewaistband.
 10. The sports ball throwing training apparatus of claim 9,wherein the waistband is overlaid with hook and loop material forattachment with the strip of hook and loop material on the arm sleeve.11. The sports ball throwing training apparatus of claim 7, wherein thearm sleeve is configured to remain coupled to the waistband as the userwithdraws its arm from the arm sleeve if the user is throwing the sportsball along a proper arm path.
 12. The sports ball throwing trainingapparatus of claim 7, wherein the arm sleeve is configured to detachfrom the waistband as the user withdraws its arm from the arm sleeve ifthe user is throwing the sports ball along an improper arm path.